


Finders Keepers (Losers Weepers)

by ThoughtfulObserver



Category: Marvel - Freeform - Fandom, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Human Experimentation, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kid Peter Parker, M/M, Multi, Superfamily (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-10 06:28:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6943561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThoughtfulObserver/pseuds/ThoughtfulObserver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone knows that Steve got a soft spot for kids, but after rescuing a little boy called 'Peter' from HYDRA's grasp he can't help but feel connected to the boy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Finders Keepers (Losers Weepers)

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a tumblr-rp with the lovely igotthatreference.

Steve was rushing through the halls, stealthily taking out the guards of the facility. A few days ago they had gotten information about a HYDRA base not far from New York and every bit of information they had hinted on the base being a laboratory for human experimentation. The thought alone was enough to make him feel sick, but it also made him eager to bring all this to an end.

Clint and Natasha had entered the base beforehand, bypassing the security and were now trying to get as much data as possible - the test subject's files and maybe even the location of other bases while Steve and Falcon were searching for the cells the test subject were kept in. They soon found a wing of the building that was probably used for just that, but as they opened door after door, searched room after room they couldn't find anyone. In fact the cells seemed like they hadn't been occupied in quite some time, which both men found to be rather odd.

Steve frowned. Were they too late? Had HYDRA evacuated the building in time? It felt like a defeat, but there still were a few rooms left to check and the super soldier just hoped that at least one person could be set free from HYDRA's grasp today.

They were standing in front of the last door and while all the other doors were simple wooden ones, leading to almost hospital-like-looking rooms this one was made of iron, heavily secured as if it was made to contain a Hulk, or at least some kind of violent lunatic. Clint and Natasha had already told them that time was running out and that more HYDRA agents were coming their way, but Steve refused to go before they had checked this last cell and so they started trying to bust it open.

It took them multiple minutes but then the door finally gave in. The superheroes shared a look, before Sam took off to fight back the approaching HYDRA agents, leaving Steve to inspect the room.

The super soldier entered carefully, his shield raised and looked around. The room was quadratic, the walls, floor and ceiling covered in white tiles and the only piece of furniture was a simple bed with some messy sheets on it, the blanket half on the floor, yet there was no one to be seen.

He was about to ask whether someone was there – unsure whether the cell might have contained someone with the power of invisibility, when he heard something shuffle beneath the bed. Lowering his shield he knelt to the ground taking a look under the bed, his eyes meeting those of a young boy.

“Hey…” Steve almost whispered, hazel eyes full of fear glued to him. “It’s okay son… you’re safe now. Falcon and I came here to bring you home.“ He took of his helmet and gave the boy a smile, while his stomach was twisting and turning. Using humans to experiment on was bad enough, but _children_..

“B-but I _am_ at home..” The kid tried to explain, his voice quiet and shaking a little.

Steve's heart broke at that. Did it mean that the poor boy had never knew anything but this facility? That instead of growing up with a family that loved and protected him he had been exposed to manic scientists that saw nothing but a lab rat in him?

No one deserved a childhood like that and only thinking about it made it hard for Steve to keep up his smile. He came a little closer to the bed, when the boy seemed to notice his shield.

“ _You are Captain America!_ ” The kid gasped suddenly and the super soldier could see the excitement sparkling in those big brown eyes. Apparently the kid was a fan – _god_ , how Steve hated that word, but it was something he could work with; if the kid knew that he was a good guy, maybe he would open up a little, trust him enough to let Steve take him away – away from HYDRA and this wicked place that he considered home. 

“Yeah..” He nodded, holding out his hand to the boy in a kind gesture. “But you can call me Steve, okay? What's your name bud?”

The kid smiled at him, already reaching out to take his hand, when he suddenly pulled it away again, seeming more anxious now. “I'm Peter..” He hesitated a little bit, almost as if he was shy. “Someday I'll gonna be a hero, just like you..” The boy announced rather proudly.

Steve watched him, concerned. “I'm sure you will be Peter.. you're a good boy.” He said and the baffled look on Peter's face made his heart melt.

They both looked up when they heard Sam running down the hall, peeking his head through the door. Again the two heroes shared a look, Steve knew that they were running out of time, they needed to move. _Now_.

Steve reached out, carefully pulling the boy out from under the bed, picking him up and holding him tightly to his chest. Peter wasn't resisting, but he could feel how tense the boy was and how _scrawny._

“What's happening?..” The boy asked, so much fear in his voice it made Steve's chest feel so tight that he had to take a deep breath to calm himself. He couldn't let this happen. He couldn't get emotional. This was a mission – a dangerous one and they all were far from safety yet.

“We're going to bring you some place safe, where no one will do mean things to you.. where you will be loved. Hold onto me okay? I'm going to run fast and then Falcon will take us to the ship, alright? No need to be scared, just hold onto me, can you do that, Peter?” Peter looked at him – in an almost curious way but nodded before very carefully wrapping his arms around Steve's neck. “O-okay.. I-I'm ready..” He mumbled into the crook of Steve's neck, holding onto him a little tighter.

Steve adjusted the boy in his arms a little, putting his hand on the back of his head, slightly stroking him with his thumb. He knew that the boy was scared – terrified – and confused, but Steve wanted him to know, that he was safe in his arms, that he would protect him.

“Falcon cover me. Widow, ready the jet, we're coming in hot.” The super soldier said through the coms, then they started running.

It didn't take them too long and soon they had made it out of the base. Peter who had clinged to Steve the whole time, eyes closed shut looked up into the sky. For the first time it wasn't limited by walls or the frame of a window and just staring into the endless blue took his breath away.

“Alright, Falcon. _Now_.”

And with that Sam grabbed the straps of Steve's uniform, pulling them up into the air. The super soldier held the boy even tighter to his chest, but Peter wasn't even scared – no, he was stunned and looked around in awe. The flight – even though it was a short one – was easily one of the best things that had ever happened to him and when they landed on the jet he was almost a little sad that it was over already.

“T-that was awesome!” Peter blurted out, making Steve chuckle a little before putting the boy down and ruffle his hair. “Well, maybe you can have another ride sometime. Maybe with Iron Man? Or with Falcon again?” Steve hummed. Peter's eyes widened even more, his excitement clearly visible as he looked over to Sam as if to ask whether that really would be okay. Sam shot him a small smile and nodded in agreement. “Sure, buddy.” He said, leaning closer to gently bump his fist against the boys shoulder. “But I've got to tell you that flying with _me_ is _way_ cooler than flying with Iron Man.” The Avenger whispered conspiratorially, winking at the boy as if he had just shared some top secret information before he moved to the front of the jet to take a seat.

Steve chuckled a little, Peter was smiling brightly as he watched Sam go, then the super soldier crouched down until he was on eye level with the young boy, smiling gently. “I'm sure that after all that excitement you're pretty tired, huh bud? Want to follow me to have the nice doctors make sure you didn't get banged up too bad? They won't hurt you, promise – they just want to make sure you're okay so you can go back to your family as soon as possible.”

Mentioning the doctors immediately made the boy's smile crumble, it looked forced now and Steve felt how tense and uneasy Peter was even if the boy tried to hide it as best as he could. “Uh.. I'm alright..” Peter assured, his voice trembling ever so slightly. “Hey.. I'll tell you a little secret: I don't like doctors either. But I can promise you that they won't do anything to hurt you, except take your blood, but that's just so we can find out who you are.” Steve told him softly, holding out his hand. “I'll even stay with you the whole time, okay? They want to look me over as well.”

The reassuring words calmed Peter, though he still seemed a little nervous. “Okay..” He agreed with a small nod, biting his lower lip before he very carefully reached out to take Steve's hand. The soldier smiled and straightened up, leading Peter to the small med bay where a few doctors and nurses where already waiting for them. They smiled gently at the kid, introduced themselves and talked to him in rather soft voices. At this point they could only imagine what the boy had went through and they were very careful not to startle or frighten him any further.

Peter looked up to Steve before letting go of his hand, sitting down on a stool as he had been told to so the doctors could examine him. The super soldier himself sat down on a sickbed, letting a nurse check him through, though he watched Peter closely, wanting to see how he reacted to the doctors. He was rather relieved when he noticed that the boy seemed fairly relaxed, honestly Steve wouldn't have been surprised if the boy had slipped into a panic attack, but luckily he seemed far from that. It was a good thing. It showed that he would probably be able to get back to having a normal life, that he would be okay with the family he had been taken from.

At some point Peter had to take off his shirt so the doctors could check his heart and lungs and it pained Steve to see how thin and pale the boy was - and then there were the scars. From where he sat Steve had almost missed them, they were thin and almost invisible, but they were _there_ and only thinking about someone touching the boy made him feel rage building up in the pit of his stomach, but he gulped it down, Peter was safe now and _no one_ was ever going to harm him again.

When they were done checking out Peter and taking a blood sample Steve waited for him to hop off the stool, then he put his hand on the boys back and led him back to the main area of the jet. “Not too bad, huh? Looks like you are right as rain and you will be able to go right back to your family as soon as we figure out who they are.” _At least if there was a family he could go back to that was._ The Avenger shook his head a little. No. There was someone waiting for the boy, there had to be.

“Yeah, it was a piece of cake!” Peter said cheerfully, bringing Steve back to reality. He looked down at the boy and chuckled a little. “Will the experiments always be that easy?” The young boy asked, almost causing the super soldier to flinch. Steve stared at him for a brief moment, shocked at the fact that to Peter being experimented on seemed like such a normal and irrelevant thing. The boy wasn't even aware of what HYDRA had done to him and Steve wasn't sure whether that was a good or a bad thing.

Unsure about how to respond to the boy's question he was glad to hear Natasha announce that they were going to be landing soon and that they needed to strap in. “Alright Pete, follow me and we'll get you strapped right into a seat, okay? Do you want to sit by me?” He asked with a small smile that only grew bigger when he heard the enthusiastic “Yes!” of the boy.

So Steve helped him onto a seat and strapped him in, before sitting down in the seat next to Peter's. He smiled softly, watching the boy that tried to take a peek at Avenger's Tower, when he realized that he would soon have to say goodbye to the boy. Steve frowned, his heart getting heavy. He didn't want them to part ways, but he knew that was what had to happen. A lot was going through his head to the point that he didn't notice them fully land until Sam gave him a nudge, signaling him that he had to help Peter out of the seat.

The boy was fidgeting around with the seat belt and Steve reached over to unbuckle him and helped him onto the ground. “We'll have to stay at the tower for a little bit, but we can make you some lunch if you want.” He told him, holding out his hand for the boy, who took it carefully. Steve glanced over at Falcon, who was watching them and sighed sadly, giving the boy's hand a little squeeze, guiding him out of the jet.

As they stepped out onto the landing pad, Steve saw Fury already waiting for him. The man looked as grumpy as ever and he looked down at Peter, almost as if scrutinizing him. Feeling the boy's nervousness Steve put a hand on his head, stroking him gently. “This is Director Fury, he's a good guy. Don't let the eye patch and the grumpiness make you feel bad. He's just a teddy bear at heart.”

Peter nodded slightly, then Fury crouched down, giving the boy a small smile. “What's your name, buddy?”

“Peter..”

“Nice to meet you, Peter. I heard that there was a really nice lady inside waiting for you. She wanted to ask you some questions if that's alright? Maybe she'll even give you a treat? Hm, how does that sound?” Peter wanted to tell him that he wasn't allowed to eat sweets, but at the other hand he really didn't want to oppose the man so he simply nodded, looking up to Steve. “Sorry, buddy, but I need to talk to Steve for a moment, alright?”

“It's okay, Pete. I'll be right back.” Steve assured him when he noticed that Peter had tensed up a little. It was quite obvious that the boy was feeling uneasy at the thought of leaving Steve's side, but he nodded nonetheless, then he let go of Steve's hand and made his way inside the tower. Steve could only hope that no one would trigger any bad memories.

Fury watched him, standing up again. “What do you think, Rogers?”

“He's a good a kid. I saw some scars and prick marks so I guess that it's safe to assume that he's been experimented on. We haven't found any other victims, though. Clint and Natasha were able to retrieve some documents, maybe we'll be able to find out what exactly was going on there.”

“I'm not sure whether the experiments were a success or not, but I can tell that the boy is extremely cautious about what he does and how he acts, almost as if something about himself scares him. He also said that he considered the facility to be his home and doesn't really seem to know anything else so I guess that he had been there for quite some time now, maybe three or four years, though I'm not sure how old he is.”

Fury's lips formed a thin line. “We'll check if there are any relatives, but before we can get him to them or into an orphanage we need to know what's up. The psychologist will check him up, but I want Banner to look into the boy's DNA as soon as possible and he'll have to go through some physical examinations as well – for all we know the boy could be a walking weapon of mass destruction.”

Steve glared at the other man, his hands clenching to fists. “Peter is _not_ a weapon, he is a _child_. He might have some sort of power, but that's nothing that we can't teach him to control. Even Bruce knows how to control the Hulk now.” He told Fury, his voice slightly trembling with anger. “ _And you will not touch that child Fury, not while I'm around._ ”

“I do not intend to harm the boy, but I need to make sure that he doesn't endanger the people around him.” Fury answered coldly. “We'll see what we can do about him when we've sighted the data, until then I'm going to take him to SHIELD Headquarters.”

With that said he turned to walk back into the tower Steve following behind. The psychologist and Peter were sitting at the dining table, where the boy was filling out some sort of test, though Steve noticed that the boy seemed a lot more distant than to when he had been around Steve.

“What if I took the boy.” Steve blurted out suddenly, unable to take his eyes off the kid he wanted to feel safe and loved. Fury looked at him a little bit surprised and Steve quickly moved to explain his thought. “I mean.. think about it Fury: Peter is already attached to me and I to him. He would be safe with us if HYDRA would ever try to take him back and even if the experimentation have resulted in him getting some powers – we would be able to handle it; to teach him how to control these powers. At least.. if there isn't anyone waiting for him – but _please_ consider it.” The Avenger looked at Fury, almost a little bit nervous, but the super spy seemed to actually give it a thought.

“You are right.” He finally admitted.

“If there is no better solution and if everyone agrees on him staying here it might be the best. Though I want everyone – and _especially you_ to think this through _carefully_. You might be _attached_ and he might be a good boy, but at some point whatever happened to him will get back to him. Think about it, Rogers. He's a _kid_ and he deserves _best_. Will you be able to do him right?”

“I know that I _can_ do right by him.” Steve nodded. “I _can_ be a parent, Fury. I will be able to handle it and I want to as long as the rest of the team is on board. I'll talk to them about it.”

“Fine.” Fury sighed. “You're going to ask the others for permission and I'll take Peter to the Headquarters for some more check ups after he's finished speaking with Miss Turing over there. Maybe you should get the boy something to eat while we're at it; He almost disappears when you look at him from the side.”

Again Steve nodded before he walked over to where Peter an the psychologist were sitting. He smiled and ruffled the boy's hair. “Hey Pete, I'm back. Doing alright, buddy?” The boy looked up from his test and gave him a small smile. “Yeah, everything's fine.” He assured, slipping what Steve now recognized to be an intelligence test back to the young psychologist.

“You still have some time left, Peter. Maybe you want to check your answers?” She asked with a kind smile, but Peter just shook his head. “No, it's good.”

“Wow, that's impressive, Pete..” Steve said beaming, but Peter just gave a shy shrug. “It.. uhm.. It really wasn't that difficult..” He mumbled, but Miss Turing hummed in agreement, looking through the test.

“Hey, do you want something to eat, Peter? I'll make you whatever you want.” Steve told the boy with a warm smile, but before he could answer the doors of the elevator opened and a half awake Tony stumbled out, mumbling something about coffee and an equation that Steve had no idea what it was for. He rolled his eyes at the genius and turned to look at Peter again.

“You did really, really good, Peter.” The psychologist exclaimed rather cheerfully when she had finished correcting the test. “But at the end you seemed to have made some mistakes, probably because you lost concentration.”

At this the boy lowered his head, frightened. “S-sorry..” He mumbled, causing a frown to appear on the woman's face. “Hey, it's alright, Peter. Everyone makes mistakes from time to time.” She assured him, slowly reaching out to stroke the boys head, but Peter flinched as soon as she touched him and she quickly drew back her hand, shooting Steve a rather concerned look, before turning to look at Peter again. “I have to talk to Mr. Fury for a moment, alright?” She stood up, nodding at Steve before walking away.

“Peter..” Steve said softly, crouching down to look at the boy who's eyes were glued to the tabletop. His heart broke as he saw the fear in the kid's eyes.

“I-I.. I'm sorry.. I-.. I promise that I won't make any mistakes next time..” Peter stammered quietly. Steve put a hand on the kid's back, gently stroking him in an attempt to calm the boy. “No need to be sorry, Peter. Everyone makes mistakes and I know Fury and I were kinda loud.” He gave him a soft smile and wondered whether Peter had overheard their conversation. “Let's get you something to eat, shall we? How about some Mac and Cheese?” The boy gave a small nod and so Steve moved to the open kitchen, where Tony had just gulped down a mug of coffee.

Before Steve could really do anything the genius pretty much slumped against the taller man, snuggling up to him and whispering something that made the blonde blush. He cleared his throat and looked back to Peter. “Peter, this is Tony – or Iron Man, when he wakes up.” Steve explained, rolling his eyes.

Peter looked up rather curiously and his eyes widened when Steve told him that this peculiar man was in fact Iron Man - one of his biggest idols and if it weren’t for the arc reactor shining through his shirt, Peter wouldn’t believe it.

“Tones.. we have a little guest so please.. maybe go wake up a little bit, change your clothes and come back, I need to talk with you about something.” Steve gave Tony a fond smile and kissed his forehead. The mechanic nodded, kissing Steve's cheek and went back to their room, not really paying attention to Peter, who watched the interaction between the both man rather envious.

“Don't worry, buddy. He is a lot more fun when he isn't half asleep. Sometimes he just spends a little too much time down in his workshop.” Steve explained, putting a plate with food in front of Peter. “Alright, I hope it's good. Let me know if you want anything else okay?”

“Uh-huh..” The boy hummed and now that he smelled the food he realized that he was quite hungry. “Thanks..” He mumbled shyly, picking up his fork very carefully before he started to eat.

Steve watched the boy for a moment, when he noticed that Tony left their room. “I'll be right back, Peter. I'm just going to change into something more comfortable.” He said, walking over to his husband.

“Tony?” Steve furrowed his brows as see saw the somewhat puzzled expression on the other's face. The genius seemed to be looking at Peter, squinting his eyes as if he wasn't sure whether there really was a kid sitting at their dining table. “Steve? What's with the kid? Did you just go and adopt a kid? Because – I mean, I'm on board and everything; we've already talked about adopting, but.. you know.. I would have liked to have been involved. We're husbands after all.”

“No..” Steve said sheepishly. “But that's kind of what I wanted to talk about with you.” He lowered his voice, trying to explain the situation as best as he could and when he had finished Tony's eyes darted from Steve to Peter. “Steve..” He said softly. “That's.. I don't think that's a good idea.” He stated calmly, making Steve let out a quiet whimper.

“ _But, Tony_.. if he's got no family to go back to.. Fury would treat him like a criminal – like a _weapon_.. Xavier's school might be a solution, but Peter's so _young_ – he needs a _real_ family. And- .. and we've been talking about adoption and now here he is and he's got such a big heart and-..” Steve rambled on, but he was cut off by Tony who put his hand over his mouth.

“Cap, listen to me.. I never said I didn't want him or anything.. I just.. he's been through a lot and I just-.. I just don't want to make any mistakes..” Tony sighed, but he didn't let Steve say anything just yet. “How about you go and change out of your uniform so I can actually meet the kid myself, huh? We'll talk about it later and-.. and don't get your hopes up too early, because there's still the possibility that there's a family waiting for the kid, alright?” Steve nodded and when Tony took his hand away he kissed him, moving into their room.

Tony hesitated for a moment and just looked at Peter from where he stood, noticing that the boy was just poking at his food nervously. He walked over to the dining table, sitting down on one of the chairs. “You know, I would be nervous too if I would have to eat something that Cap made.. but Mac and Cheese should be easy enough so we should be safe. Just between me and you: Cap is amazing at everything but being a cook.” He smirked, trying to crack a joke to ease the tension.

Peter looked up to Tony with his big, brown, doe-eyes, not quite sure what he should say. “No it-.. it was really good..” He mumbled, seeming even more stressed than before. _Way to go, Tony._ \- The mechanic thought, forcing a smile.

There was a really long moment of uneasy silence between them, but then Peter looked up at the man rather curiously. “It's ' _Iron_ Man', but the suit isn't really made of iron, right? ..Because that would be _way_ too heavy..” He asked shyly.

Tony chuckled and nodded. “Very good observation kid. Yeah, it's a titanium alloy.” He explained when he suddenly got an idea and took out his Stark Pad, moving his hand so the schematics for his next suit popped up as a hologram between them.

“If you want, I actually need some help with the next suit for my friend Rhodey – you might know him as War Machine – he needs some upgrades.. wanna help me pick out colors and some cool gadgets to put on it?” Tony asked with a grin.

Peter gave him a puzzled look, almost as if he wasn't sure whether the man was making a joke or not, but then he nodded carefully. “Uh.. okay..”

A little later Steve stepped out of his bedroom, now changed into something more casual and he stopped when he saw Peter and Tony talking with each other. At first it seemed as if the boy was too shy to really say much, but Tony was patient and talked enough for both of them. The sight made Steve smile and he decided to stay back and keep watching, not wanting to interrupt them.

“-Maybe you could add some scanners for vital signs.. uh.. maybe even something to scan brainwaves? You could put them into the palms of the suit.. does it already have thermal-sight?..” The boy spoke softly, carefully as if he still wasn't sure whether he was allowed to speak or not, but Tony listened smiling and was quite surprised at the boys ideas.

He wasn't sure about how old he was, but he knew that normally boys his age would rather talk about guns and weapons, but Peter seemed more concerned about _helping_ people, rather than fighting them. Tony had to admit that the boy somewhat reminded him of himself when he was a kid and thinking about how Peter probably never had felt loved made him want to pull the boy into a warm hug.

“Uh.. uhm..” Peter hesitated a little. “Tony?.. Uh.. you don't have any superpowers, right?..” The boy asked quietly, already knowing the answer – it was one of the reasons he admired the hero. “I think that's really cool.. because you – you made everything yourself; all the suits – just because you wanted to help people..” He mumbled, too shy to look Tony in the eye.

The mechanic blinked a little bit surprised, but nodded, tapping at his arc reactor. “The only thing that's super powered in me is this. But other than that I am 100% human, but so are Black Widow and Hawkeye. We all just got.. chosen you know? I think you never really choose to be a hero – the path is chosen for you.” He said, smiling at the boy that was weaving his way into his heart just like that.

The boy looked up at him, thinking about the other’s words, slightly biting his lower lip as he did - it made him look quite serious and concentrated. And he was. _The path is chosen for you_.

He nodded slightly, lowering his gaze again, slightly scratching at the tabletop as if he was anxious.

“I've got chosen too..” His voice was barely louder than a whisper and for the first time he just sounded so.. _empty_.

Tony's smile froze.“Peter..” He said softly, the boy sounded so lost, he really just wanted to wrap his arms around him to comfort him. “What do you mean?..”

Even from where he stood Steve noticed that something was happening. Tony seemed tense and worried and Peter was quite obviously not doing too well. He quickly went to join them, looking at the boy with a rather worried expression.

Peter seemed a little lost in thoughts as if he hadn’t even heard Tony, but then he snapped out of his trance, giving the hero a shy smile. “Well - I mean.. if you’re chosen, you can’t just.. _stop_. Even if it _hurts_ \- you just have to keep going, because that’s what makes you a hero, right?” The boy explained.

“That’s what the doctors told me whenever I wouldn’t let them do their job.” Peter admitted almost as if embarassed that he had shown such an act of rebellion once. “They would always tell me about you and the Avengers - and especially Steve and that all of you would never give up that easily.” He gave a bright smile; he wasn’t complaining about what had happened to him, he wasn’t blaming anyone, he just was way too full of positivity to do so.

Tony and Steve looked at him, neither of them able to say anything, but they knew that they both felt the same.

“Peter that.. that's something different..” Tony tried to explain carefully. “No one should _force_ you to do _anything_. The path might get chosen for you, but whether you take it or not – it should be up to you. I -.. you need to want it.”

“I.. I _want_ to help people.” The boy said quietly, but determined.

It was then that Fury came back, walking over to them. “Looks like you already made some friends, huh? I promise that you'll be able to see them again sometime, but for now you got to say goodbye, there's still a bunch of other people that would love to meet you.”

Peter nodded obediently and got up before glancing over to Steve and Tony. Steve walked over to him, pulling him into a huge hug. He felt the boy tense up in his arms, but he couldn't bring himself to let him go so he gently stroked his back. It would take the boy some time to understand, but all Steve wanted was to make him feel safe, make him feel loved even if it was just for a brief moment.

He pulled away, giving the boy a warm smile. “We'll see you soon – promise. Tony and I will visit you. Maybe we'll even have you meet the whole team.” Steve said, then Tony crouched down next to them. The mechanic felt the urge to hug the boy, but he didn't want to startle him any more. He could see that the whole situation just overwhelmed the poor kid and so he simple held out his hand. “Like Cap said, we'll see you soon. Maybe the suit we created will be finished by then – I'll make sure you're the first one to see it and you could meet my bots too. Dum-E will definitely like you.”

Peter looked at Tony's hand, blinking a few times, but he didn't take it, instead he nodded nervously. “U-uh-huh.. It was nice to meet you..” He mumbled shyly, then he turned to Fury who nodded and put his hand on the boy's shoulder, leading him to the elevator. Peter glanced back to the two Avengers.

Steve gave him another smile. “We'll see you soon, Peter – you can count on that.” He assured him a few moments later the elevator doors closed and he looked at his husband who's gaze still rested on the elevator.

“Tony?.. I..” Steve started, but Tony cut him off with a movement of his hand.

“ _Jesus McFucking_ _Christ_ , Steve.” The mechanic said in disbelief.  


“That's him; that's our son.”

  


  


 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Any thoughts or ideas?  
> Want to read more?  
> There is only a very sketchy plot that I have in mind for this so your comments will more than likely fuel my inspiration.
> 
> \- TO


End file.
